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Life/Career Planning Worksheet

Begin the search with careful consideration. Print out this form, and work through the sections thoughtfully. When you're done, you'll have a much better idea of the direction you should go.

Individual Strengths

What are your areas of strength? List 10 positive self-characteristics.

Values

What are your values? Rank the following values from 1 to 10, with 1 being the most important.

_____ Freedom
_____ Self-Respect
_____ Having Fun
_____ Making Money
_____ Wisdom
_____ Helping Others
_____ Variety

_____ Security
_____ Peace
_____ Independence
_____ Friendship
_____ Prestige
_____ Challenges
_____ Recognition

Skills

What skills do you have? Mark the skills that you have with an "X" and the skills that you enjoy with an "*." Provide examples of how you use these skills.

Management Skills	Examples
_____ Organizing _____ Directing _____ Scheduling _____ Motivating _____ Decision-making
Communication Skills	Examples
_____ Writing _____ Listening _____ Presenting _____ Conducting _____ Informing _____ Training
Research Skills	Examples
_____ Problem-solving _____ Development _____ Collecting Data _____ Hypothesis Development
Creative Skills	Examples
_____ Developing _____ Designing _____ Improvising
Service Skills	Examples
_____ Helping _____ Guiding _____ Inspiring _____ Leading
Selling Skills	Examples
_____ Persuading _____ Informing _____ Promoting
Financial Skills	Examples
_____ Calculating _____ Projecting _____ Budgeting _____ Numerical
Technical Skills	Examples
_____ Desigining _____ Drafting _____ Building
Clerical Skills	Examples
_____ Recording _____ Bookkeeping _____ Administrating
Manual Skills	Examples
_____ Operations _____ Mechanical _____ Constructing _____ Repair

Interests/Activities

Respond to the following with your first thoughts. Be sure to include everything that fits the topics below, no matter how unimportant it may seem.

List all classes and training that you liked and felt successful in.
List any activities or accomplishments, including volunteer, professional or extracurricular, that you particularly enjoyed and felt successful in.
List any kind of task that you have done well or really enjoyed in the past — at home, school, elsewhere.
Write down any accomplishments that others have said that you did well.

Read all the statements below. Which really fit your interests? Mark the top five that you would like to use in your job.

_____	Serving or caring for other people.	_____	Talking, speaking to, and convincing others.
_____	Managing other people.	_____	Working alone.
_____	Handling or managing money.	_____	Working with machines.
_____	Selling things or services.	_____	Working on a time schedule.
_____	Using physical strength.	_____	Working with animals.
_____	Meeting other people.	_____	Taking or receiving orders from others.
_____	Using writing skills.	_____	Repairing or fixing things.
_____	Using mathematical skills.	_____	Following directions.
_____	Working with children.	_____	Developing new ideas or concepts.
_____	Travel or frequent moving.	_____	Entertaining or being in front of others.
_____	Working outdoors.	_____	Making quick decisions and being own boss.
_____	Working indoors.	_____	Having adventures or challenges.
_____	Making plans and organizing others.	_____	Working with artistic forms and designs.
_____	Working with the sick and disabled.	_____	Working with lots of variety and change.
_____	Working with the elderly.	_____	Having more structure and little pressure.
_____	Work that require patience and accuracy.	_____	Work in a high-risk job with high demands and rewards.

Review the interests that you circled. What do they have in common?

Ideal Job

Using the previous exercises, write down your top three strengths, top three values, top three skills and your top three interests/activities.
Strengths:
Skills:
Values:
Interests/Activities:
Find five to 10 job descriptions online that are particularly appealing to you. Don't worry at this moment about position qualifications or location. What appeals to you about these positions?
Describe your ideal job from the above self-information.
Your ideal job is the goal of your job search and provides your focus as you approach opportunities in the world of work. Your ideal job may be a long-term goal. If so, what possibilities would fit your education and experience at this point and relate to the long-term goal?